World Health Day 2025: Progress on women’s health under threat
April 7 marks World Health Day 2025, which is dedicated to maternal and newborn health. According to the World Health Organisation, each year, pregnancy and childbirth claim the lives of nearly 300,000 women, while over 2 million babies die in their first month, and another 2 million are stillborn. This amounts to one preventable death every seven seconds. These deaths disproportionately affect the poorest countries and regions embroiled in conflict, where access to healthcare is severely disrupted.
Like most things, global maternal health is impacted by geopolitical shifts and increasing polarisation around gender policies. The return of Donald Trump to the White House has ushered in a renewed period of isolationist policies, including the dismantling of international family planning initiatives. The decision to end USAID funding for contraception and reproductive health services in developing countries will likely have devastating consequences, cutting off nearly 50 million women from access to contraceptives.
The sudden funding cut has disrupted supply chains, left contraceptives stranded in transit, and forced clinics to shut down. This policy shift threatens to reverse years of global progress in reducing maternal mortality, increase the prevalence of unsafe abortions, and place additional strain on already overburdened healthcare systems in vulnerable regions.
The European Commission’s recently published Roadmap on Women’s Rights asserts that every woman is entitled to the highest standards of physical and mental health. To reach this goal, several objectives are highlighted, including ensuring respectful and top-quality care in obstetrics, gynaecology, antenatal, childbirth, and postnatal services, without discrimination and addressing harmful practices. Additionally, through the Global Health Strategy, the EU has committed €45 million to support the UN Population Fund’s Supplies Partnership for reproductive health commodities, aiming to eliminate unmet family planning needs and preventable maternal deaths.
Despite this, global developments will stall progress and lead to preventable maternal deaths and unmet family planning needs. For instance, in Afghanistan alone, the freeze on USA.ID funding has led to the closure of over 200 health facilities, cutting off essential maternal and childbirth care. Current trends indicate that an alarming 80% of countries are falling behind in meeting the UN's global targets for improving maternal survival by 2030, while one third are on track to miss targets for reducing newborn deaths. Ongoing funding limitations are likely to exacerbate this situation. Even in the EU, one in 10 women do not have access to health services in their first months of pregnancy.
In this context, the EU and its member states must consider their responsibility and make the future of women’s health a priority. While competing priorities, including geopolitical and economic uncertainty, undoubtedly apply significant pressure on EU funding, there is a strong moral imperative for the EU to invest in global health, particularly in women’s health. This commitment is rooted not only in ethical values but also highlights the EU's role in supporting the future of multilateralism and the urgent need to deepen existing collaborations with partners around the world. The lack of US leadership in this area creates a void that risks being filled by China or Russia, to the detriment of Europe’s place in the world and its position as a global leader.
As geopolitics continues to create great uncertainties and instability, women’s health continues to pay the price.
Elizabeth Kuiper is the Associate Director & Head of the Social Europe and Well-being programme at the EPC.
Danielle Brady is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Social Europe and Well-being programme at the EPC.
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